9 Hoosier Banker December 2015 Continued on page 10. COVER STORY Nestled among fertile cornfields in Posey County is the main office of Community State Bank of Southwestern Indiana, a $75 million bank operating solely in Posey County, located on the banks of the Ohio and Wabash rivers. It also is the workplace of Steven A. Bennett, 60, president and chief executive officer of the bank. Hoosier Banker interviewed Steve Bennett last July, when the fields in Posey County were brimming with full yields. What is the history of Community State Bank of Southwestern Indiana? “It started as an originator for small loans in the town of Cynthiana in 1899, and it operated that way for several years. Then it incorporated as a bank in 1905 and became statechartered in the 1920s. But our history really goes back to 1899. “It was in the 1960s that we started to expand. We started by opening an office in St. Wendel in the late ’60s on the Posey County/ Vanderburgh County line. We opened the office in Poseyville in the late 1980s.” According to your website, Community State Bank employees donated nearly 600 hours to more than 20 community organizations last year. How do you maintain this strong culture of community service? “Our staff is a giving group of people, and are very generous with their time. There are a lot of instances where I’ll go to an event one evening, and two or three of our people are there helping and donating their time ‒ and I didn’t even know they would be there. “That happens a lot, but it’s not just us. You see that commitment from most of the banks in Posey County. “I’m on several local boards ‒ the Posey County Chamber of Commerce and the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce. I’m also active with the boards of the Posey County Economic Development Partnership and the Posey County United Way.” Why is Poseyville called the ‘Pride of Indiana’? “It’s a wonderful agriculturalleaning community. The ground here is excellent for farming. Agriculture is a big industry, but there also are other large businesses here. There’s a big thermoplastics plant called SABIC ‒ formerly GE Plastics ‒ that employs about 1,200 people. The Country Mark refinery in Mount Vernon is a large employer, as is GAF Roofing, which has a facility in Mount Vernon. “We also have Consolidated Grain and Barge, Valero Energy, Bristol Myers and several other industries at or near the Southwind Port of Indiana. Posey County is a riverfront county, with the Wabash River on the west and the Ohio on the south, and Steve Bennett: Posey County Bank Leader Steve Bennett has been with Community State Bank of Southwestern Indiana since 2007.
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